University of Georgia Certificate Program Provides Training for New Technicians

The Urban Pest Management Program on the University of Georgia’s Griffin campus has established a 10-week lecture series resulting in a certificate in Urban and Structural Pest Management. The goal of the program is to provide Georgia’s pest management companies new technicians exposed to various aspects of the industry.

Lectures are designed to expose students to sales, customer service, legal affairs and various technical aspects of the industry. Lecturers include Dr. Ron Harrison (Orkin), Jeff Dunn (Northwest), Jay Barber (attorney with Decker, Hallman, Barber and Briggs), Hal Coleman (North Fulton Exterminating) and Dr. Dan Suiter (UGA Entomology).

More than half of the certificate program’s 10 lectures are an introduction to the identification, biology and management of the 100 to 125 most common pests found in Georgia’s urban environment. Pest lectures also have an accompanying lab session. In any given lab, small specimens are placed under microscopes for close-up identification, while dozens of pinned insect specimens put on display for students to study.

“I try to get the students to realize that they are not likely to ever again have the opportunity to see some of the things they see in our lab sessions. If they’ve seen it already, it’s less likely to go unnoticed when it counts,” said Suiter, the program’s director.

At the end of the program, students are partnered with a local, participating pest management company for an internship. The internship gives the company a chance to evaluate the potential new employee and decide whether this person would be a good fit for the company. It also gives the potential employee time to see if the industry is a good fit for them.

“It’s a win-win situation. There should be few surprises by the end of the internship,” Suiter said. “The idea for the certificate program was hatched after discussions I’d had over the years with pest management companies who had told me about the difficulties and hassles they endure from high rates of employee turnover and the investment in time and money needed to get a new employee registered.”

All too often, after the long, sometimes costly process of replacing a technician they leave the industry within months. This continuous treadmill can be a tremendous financial burden on pest control companies. “One of our goals is to help reduce this high rate of turnover by providing companies with employees who are serious about a job in the industry,” Suiter said.

Several students were supported during the fall 2007 session, with scholarships provided by Dow AgroSciences, Whitmire Micro-Gen and Bug Busters, an Atlanta-based pest management firm. These scholarships allowed six individuals with no experience in the industry the opportunity to obtain a certificate. Moreover, it will provide local companies a look at some fresh, new potential employees. Since graduation, all have been in contact with companies in Georgia and are looking forward to spring 2008 internships.